Happy Friday Ya'll! I hope you're having a great week. This summer it has been hot! Many days with the heat index well into the 100's degrees Fahrenheit! So hot! As Matthew Broderick would say " Africa Hot"!  A Biloxi Blues reference. I guess I just aged myself. LOL So I have been spending a lot of time inside. Getting cabin fever. Today I just had to get out of the house. So I went for what I call Photography Therapy . Sometimes you just have to spend a hour or so away to clear your head. For me that's a hike in the woods in a state park near me. After a hour or so hiking in the woods doing a little photography on the way clears my head. There is something to be said about just concentrating on a photograph that takes
my mind off of everything else. Now I know I'm retired and don't have the pressures of the workers in the world with deadlines , expectations, traffic, and emails to answer but still can use some relief. Just concentrating on composure, exposure, shape, form all the concepts that go into a photo gets your creative juices flowing and all of your other troubles just go out the door. And really all you have to do is grab your camera and walk out the door. It's that simple. We get so connected to technology we forget what it's like not to be so connected. 

Today Forrest the Wonder Dog and I went for a little hike. We went to Cliffs of the Neuse State Park which is only about 10 miles from the house. Forrest has been stuck in the house too and he loves to go for a hike for all of the smells. So when I go for a hike he's usually with me which can make the photography tough. When I stop to take a photo he is sometimes pulling me wanting to get to the next place to sniff.  We left early to beat the really hot weather but I was soaking wet after a half an hour. It didn't matter I was out taking photos. Now do you need to walk in the woods like I did? Absolutely not. A photo walk in town would work just as well instead of photographing
trees and vistas you can shoot in town buildings , shops , people. You could even take a break at a coffee shop and enjoy the AC while sipping coffee and looking at your photo's.  Which I like to do also. But Forrest needed a walk today. The point is taking a walk and taking your camera with you. What do you need to bring?

Today on my Therapy walk I brought my travel camera my Sony A 6700. This is a crop sensor camera that I use when I'm traveling. I had a Sigma 18-50mm lens which is a 26-75mm full frame equivalent. On that lens I have a polarizer attached. I almost always have one attached to my lens to help eliminate or control reflections and to saturate colors. But sometimes I take my EDC (Every Day Carry) Camera. It's a Leica D-Lux 8 a Point and shoot with almost the same lens configuration but a 24 to 75mm full frame equivalent. With a polarizer on it. If I was doing a in town photowalk this is what I would use but wouldn't hesitate to take it on landscape type of stuff either. The point is have a dedicated camera with you that you really like to shoot. Something that you're comfortable with. Like an old friend. Not something that you're not used to and that you will struggle with settings and things. This will stress you out not relax you. Sometimes when I'm doing a in town photo walk I'll take a film camera like my 1968 Canon Canonet QL17 with no electronics on it at all. Just a light meter. Keeping it simple. It also keeps me from looking at the back of my camera to see what I got. So it's all about the process of taking the photo not the result. The act of taking the photo is Therapeutic. 

So where will you go for your next therapy session. A walk in the woods? Or maybe a walk to your favorite coffee shop. Either way photography is therapeutic! Until next week Get Out and Shoot!

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 posts there. Here is the link

 Max Stansell Photography Instagram Link